


i. snuggles

by icymapletree



Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Febufluff, Fluff, Gen, John Mulaney References, Parent Tony Stark, Platonic Cuddling, Sleepy Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22512571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icymapletree/pseuds/icymapletree
Summary: The door creaks, and Tony's head shoots up in its direction. Peter, with tired eyes and fluffy hair, stands there. “Couldn’ sleep,” he mumbles and glances at the TV screen, “an’ I heard John Mulaney.”orThere's nothing that John Mulaney and some cuddles can't fix.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618837
Comments: 32
Kudos: 349





	i. snuggles

**Author's Note:**

> happy febuwhump, febufuff, and everything in between!
> 
> since i can't commit to one thing for a month, i've decided to do a combo of the febufluff and febuwhump prompts. and hopefully some BAMFuary prompts, too.

Six years ago, Tony would’ve been scared shitless if he was in charge of two children for a weekend. But now, as he walks up the cabin stairs, he finds himself basking in the domesticity. 

Peter’s planned weekend visits come around bimonthly, and Tony looks forward to them whenever the boy isn’t there. He has a checklist in his head to keep everything as calm and enjoyable as possible when Peter is in town.

He tries to keep the stress level low in the house, as stress tends to worsen Peter’s nightmares. They’re not nightly anymore, but Tony will do anything to decrease the chance of one disrupting his kid’s sleep.

Another thing high on the list is making sure Peter doesn’t get hurt. Even without patrol - or missions - the kid has a tendency to injure himself.

Tony chuckles as he flips off his bedroom light, reminiscing on the time that Peter fell out of the treehouse. He broke his hand - which healed that day, because _of course_ it did - and while it was scary at the time, it’s funny to Tony now.

Still, he’s thankful Peter hadn’t gotten hurt on his mission-- but he knows the boy is exhausted. 

This morning, Peter returned from some Hydra bust in Romania. It was a week-long ordeal, resulting in Peter being absent from school, which May usually never allows. 

After such a big day, Peter is probably dead asleep. Most of the time, he sleeps as light as a feather, and Tony has to be careful when he goes to bed. But tonight, Tony doesn’t try to muffle his noise when he passes Peter’s room. 

Tony was disappointed when Peter had said he wanted to go to bed early, but the boy is rightfully tired and deserved to-- even if it means they would miss their Saturday movie night.

Recently, Peter’s been tired all the time. It makes May, Pepper, and Tony infinitely curious about the appropriate work/life balance for a sixteen year-old superhero. But, they know Peter could never sit around while there’s an active mission.

Tony shoves those questions away as he slips on his sleep clothes. He yawns and stretches his arms above his head, tucking himself under the covers and reaching for the TV remote-- even though his sleep schedule has improved, the absence of Pepper leads to him dipping his toes into his old habits.

He opens Netflix and scrolls until something looks appealing, and settles on a John Mulaney comedy special he’d watched with Peter so many times before. It isn’t his own taste, but it reminds him of the kid. 

_”I love to play venues where if the guy that built the venue could see me on the stage, he would be a little bit bummed about it--”_

A text comes in from Pepper as the special starts, asking what movie he and Peter chose. Tony types, _Kid was too tired. Romania was a lot for him._

_I forgot that he was in Romania this week,_ Pepper responds, another text following, _Did the school get mad? Is he truant yet? (;_

Tony smiles to himself. _Not quite. But I think we’ll be seeing Dave the truancy officer soon._

Eventually, the adults in Peter’s life decided that it was best to let Mister Morita in on Peter’s arachnid issue. They still had to follow state laws - which meant a limited amount of absences - but there are no more visits to the principal’s office. However, they do have to deal with Dave, the animated truancy officer who is barely fazed by Peter’s friendship with the Avengers. 

Tony gets lost in the memories until the door creaks, and his head shoots up in its direction. Peter, with tired eyes and fluffy hair, stands there. “Couldn’ sleep,” he mumbles and glances at the TV screen, “an’ I heard John Mulaney.”

_”But the way that it came off was that he definitely killed that girl--’”_

Tony pauses the show and pats the spot on the bed next to him. “Nightmare?” 

Peter shakes his head. “I didn’ realize how much I needed our movie nigh’ to fall asleep ‘til I couldn’.”

Tony smiles, pulling back the covers for Peter and pressing play. “Well, we got John Mulaney and some blankets.”

“Why’re you watchin’ Kid Gorgeous anyway? You don’ even like it.”

“Yeah, but _you_ do.”

Peter hums and climbs into the bed. Tony brushes the boy’s hair away from his face as he curls up and whispers along with the show. “Yeah ‘cause I was over on the bench,” he says, in time. 

Tony’s lip quirks up. “Were you now?”

“Yeah,” he yawns, “It’s like when you were grillin’ me for bein’ in the kitchen when Nat and Bucky were sparin’ each other in the common room.”

“Hey, that’s not one hundred percent my fault. I thought you were sparing too.”

“I was jus’ eating my Nutella toast.” Then, while miming John Mulaney, he says, “I was over in the kitchen.”

Tony laughs and the two of them settle in, Peter’s breaths becoming longer and deeper. He has tucked himself into Tony’s side, the soft sound of the audience’s reactions lulling him to sleep. At some point, Tony’s hands make their way to Peter’s hair, carding through the curls. Whenever he reaches a snag, he gently works through it like he has done a thousand times before.

The curtains are parted, letting in a small amount of moonlight that illuminates the room in a cool tone. Tony uses it to study Peter, whose eyes have fluttered shut. He appears so much younger in his sleep, unburdened by the pressure of being an Avenger _and_ a teenager.

At this point in the night, Tony is no longer kept awake by his restless mind-- rather he is kept awake by his need to protect the boy. He’s Peter’s dreamcatcher-- Peter’s nightmares must go through him first.

It’s a nice sentiment, even if it isn’t one hundred percent true.

He glances up at the screen again, Peter’s favorite part approaching despite that the boy is fast asleep.

“It’s your favorite part, Pete,” he whispers.

_”Street smarts! With Detective JJ Bittenbinder!”_

He wishes that Peter had been awake for three more minutes, because he loves the way Peter’s face lights up when he sees something that he loves. Peter has always been a passionate kid, hyperfocusing on one thing before dashing to the next.

Maybe in another life, Peter’s enthusiasm wouldn’t be weighed down by the burden of his grief. He could spend all day loving the things he enjoys, rather than saving the world.

But, if Peter didn’t live this life, it was possible he could have never met the kid. And, selfishly, Tony would rather keep Peter in his life than take away the weight that sits heavy on their shoulders.

“I love you, Peter,” he whispers, before turning off the TV and pulling the covers over himself.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!
> 
> come talk to me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/icymapletree)!


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